Google buys streaming music service Songza

Google on Tuesday bought Internet radio service Songza, bolstering its online music offerings to answer recent moves by competitors Apple and Amazon.

Terms of the deal were not announced, although Billboard magazine reported the price was “substantially higher’ than the $15 million Google reportedly offered last month.

Google said it didn’t plan any immediate changes to Songza, which has about 5.5 million subscribers.

“Over the coming months, we’ll explore ways to bring what you love about Songza to Google Play Music,” Google said in a post on Google+. “We’ll also look for opportunities to bring their great work to the music experience on YouTube and other Google products.”

The competition in online music field ratcheted up in May with Apple’s blockbuster $3 billion purchase of Beats Music, putting more heat music services Pandora and Spotify. Amazon then launched Prime Music for members of its $99-per-year Amazon Prime service.

“Clearly, tech firms such as Google, Apple and Amazon are placing big bets that music will eventually pay dividends as part of a broader digital content strategy,” said analyst Paul Verna of the research firm eMarketer.

Those bets are being placed “despite the sluggishness of the download business and the relatively small size of the streaming economy,” Verna said in an e-mail.

“Today, we’re thrilled to announce that we’re becoming part of Google,” it reads. “We can’t think of a better company to join in our quest to provide the perfect soundtrack for everything you do. No immediate changes to Songza are planned, other than making it faster, smarter, and even more fun to use.”